QA Ltd: Navigating DDaT – how a skills ontology makes sense #techUKDigitalPS

One of the many things I have inherited from my mum is a love of lists. Sometimes they get called “to do” lists – the reality is more a collection of things to procrastinate over.  For many of the customer I work with taking the DDaT Profession and using it within their teams is firmly rooted to the bottom of that “will get to it one day” list. Even where a start has been made then it often becomes a science project, progress is slow and quickly out-of-date before being useful. 

At the end of 2020 I published a blog on why Digital Capability Assessments matter (link) in which I encourage organisations to take a productive pause. to Take the time to find talent and nurture it with training, and you can accelerate the capabilities of your team. 

Since then, I have been involved with several upskilling and reskilling projects that have worked with the DDaT framework. There were even debates about the difference between solving a problem and solving the problem. Turns out that subtle differences do matter.  The experience gained from these projects is now informing our thinking about the future. Being able to build the digital, data and technology skills that the public sector requires is not a training problem. 

The fixed job descriptions of the past no longer work for many organisations. Building multidisciplinary teams that can work with agility demands a different approach to developing knowledge, skills, behaviours, and experience. In response to this we have shifted towards creating a skills ontology that aligns to the DDaT profession. 

The ontology has six skills blocks to it – human, foundation DDaT, non-technical, data, security, and role specialisms.  There are elements within each block that we can design and deliver blended learning interventions to build capability at awareness, working, practitioner and expert level.  The ontology dynamic and adaptable based on specific organisation need and content provider preferences. Individuals and leaders can have discussions about skills development across each of the areas supporting the creation of a workforce that is shifting from doing digital projects to being a digital organisation. 

We have worked with customers in the public and private sector to support them in adopting the ontology for their own teams. The feedback shows that it is a model which helps make sense of a complicated requirement without becoming a project itself. For those organisations that recognise they cannot hire their way out of the skills crisis, nor does traditional knowledge-based training meet the performance need, the ontology supports development of successful reskilling programmes. 

Building the digital, data and technology skills that will enable government to deliver the roadmap is not a simple task. The best next step is to make a start on understanding what you have already and where to focus for the future. QA’s Learning Solutions Consultants can work with you to understand the landscape and recommend solutions that work. With access to industry leading digital and instructor led content, experience in supporting learning transfer, and embedding learning evaluation to show return on expectation we believe we can make a significant contribution to your successful transformation. 

If dealing with the skills gap is on the “must get round to” list, then why not get in touch today and let us share how we can partner with you to move it to the “making good progress” pile? 

This article was written by Luke Radford, Principal Solution Consultant, QA Ltd. Luke Radford works with our largest enterprise and Government customers as a strategic advisor on digital transformation and developing talent solutions for the digital age. He brings his experience of developing digital business strategy and leading transformation in the public and private sector.  

A creative strategic advisor working at the intersection between people and technology, Luke is passionate about working in collaboration to reimagine the future. Senior leaders trust him to stimulate conversation, bring fresh insight and deliver thought leadership. Leaders choose to work with Luke as a “sense maker”, someone who can quickly get to the heart of problems and identify solutions. Luke brings a system thinking approach to conversations, surfacing the bigger picture, and articulating the opportunities that this perspective creates. A naturally curious person, Luke has adopted an “eternal newbie” mindset. He is known as someone who will be thinking about the future differently, bringing ideas from different industries together to surface and stimulate interesting conversations. As a creative strategic thinker keen to challenge convention, Luke loves to explore the boundaries of possibility and to reimagine and deliver process change or open transformational conversations. Technology should be used to exceed customer expectations, reduce complexity, and create growth through innovation. Connect with Luke, via LinkedIn.

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